Filled Pause Use in Autistic Adults and Their First-Degree Relatives: Gender Differences and Within-Family Associations.

Purpose: Prior research indicates that filled pauses (e.g., um and uh) are a marker of pragmatic language. Although pragmatic language features run in families of autistic individuals, it is not clear whether variation in filled pause production of autistic adults is also familial. It is also possib...

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Publicado en:Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research Vol. 68; no. 11; pp. 5399 - 5414
Autores principales: Friedman, Laura, Maltman, Nell, Sterling, Audra, Hudock, Rebekah L., DaWalt, Leann Smith
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Nov2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Nov2025
      vid: 68
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      pub: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
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        10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00409
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        atl: Filled Pause Use in Autistic Adults and Their First-Degree Relatives: Gender Differences and Within-Family Associations.
      aug:
        au:
          Friedman, Laura
          Maltman, Nell
          Sterling, Audra
          Hudock, Rebekah L.
          DaWalt, Leann Smith
        affil:
          Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
          Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
          Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
      su:
        Parents
        Language & languages
        Speech
        Gender identity
        Autism
        Sex distribution
        Parent-child relationships
        Mothers
        Families
        Psycholinguistics
        Fathers
        Communication
        Adults
        Genetics of autism
        Data analysis
        Statistical significance
        Research funding
        Scientific observation
        Questionnaires
        Descriptive statistics
        Physiological aspects of speech
        Research bias
        Statistics
        Asperger's syndrome
        Data analysis software
      sug:
        subj:
          Parents
          Language & languages
          Speech
          Gender identity
          Autism
          Sex distribution
          Parent-child relationships
          Mothers
          Families
          Psycholinguistics
          Fathers
          Communication
          Adults
          Genetics of autism
          Data analysis
          Statistical significance
          Research funding
          Scientific observation
          Questionnaires
          Descriptive statistics
          Physiological aspects of speech
          Research bias
          Statistics
          Asperger's syndrome
          Data analysis software
      ab: Purpose: Prior research indicates that filled pauses (e.g., um and uh) are a marker of pragmatic language. Although pragmatic language features run in families of autistic individuals, it is not clear whether variation in filled pause production of autistic adults is also familial. It is also possible that filled pause use is a subtle meaningful marker of gender differences. The present study examined filled pause production, a potential marker that may be linked to genetic liability, in autistic adults and their parents, and evaluated relationships with autism traits and the broad autism phenotype (BAP). Method: Autistic adults (n = 33 males, 10 females) and their parents (n = 15 fathers, 40 mothers) provided a monologic language sample, which were transcribed and analyzed for filled pauses, including um rate (ums out of total words), uh rate (uhs out of total words), and um ratio (ums out of total filled pauses). Results: Autistic adult males and fathers produced higher rates of uhs and lower um ratios than autistic adult females and mothers, respectively. Among autistic adults, more autism traits were associated with lower um ratios and higher uh rates. Adult-filled pause use was associated with maternal filled pause use and paternal BAP features. Conclusions: Our findings build on research on gender differences in autism. The association between lower um ratio and more autism traits indicates that um may be a pragmatic marker related to core features of autism. The differential relationships in filled pauses of autistic adults and filled pauses and BAP features of their parents suggest that filled pauses may be familial. Findings have implications for examining the utility of filled pauses as markers of genetic liability for autism.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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